


Packing Lunch

by JAStitches



Series: Heart of the Home: Tales From the Kitchen [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Breakfast, Domestic Fluff, Gen, Gross Hangover Cures, Mother Hen Taiyang
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-18
Updated: 2017-05-18
Packaged: 2018-11-02 03:44:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10936311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JAStitches/pseuds/JAStitches
Summary: Taiyang packs lunch for the family every morning: whether they end up actually going to school and needing a packed lunch varies.





	Packing Lunch

The grayish gloom of early dawn outside the window was beginning to give way to the first golden orange rays of sunrise, those first warm touches of light filtering through the glass. The black and white corgi gave a quiet yawn from his folded-up towel beside the fridge, mirroring the tired yawn of the man at the counter. He took a long drink from his coffee mug, running a hand through his neatly-combed hair and settling it into its usual near-windblown style. He was up and ready for work hours before the sun rose, as he was every morning. He was already halfway through here, and after he was done, he would go upstairs and wake everyone for the day.

In front of him were four plates and a bowl, all filled with different foods. Two halves of a stick of celery cut lengthwise into quarters, eight apple slices with the skins peeled away in small v-shapes at one end so that they resembled tiny rabbits, two carrots halved twice over, a peeled orange, and a handful of grapes. Six rice balls, three filled with beef, and three filled with crab meat, and five three-inch sausages, each cut to resemble a tiny octopus. A perfectly-rectangular sandwich with the crusts cut off, sliced from corner to corner, filled with sliced strawberries and what looked like whipped cream, and several round, palm-sized biscuits, the tops of which were scored with cross-hatched lines. Around and on top of them were small, round cakes that almost appeared to be covered in sugar, and several pink rice balls wrapped in brownish leaves. The bowl contained noodles, all mixed in together with beef, crab meat, mushrooms, and a number of vegetables.

Four two-tiered lunch boxes sat in a row along the wall; one yellow, one brown, one black, and one red. Four boxes, four meals. Each a different combination of the ingredients in front of him, catered specifically for the needs of each family member for the day.

The red box was pulled forward and opened. This lunch was more for a sweet midday meal after a long, long morning of studying. Something to boost energy and brighten up the day, make it much easier to get through the rest of it. The sandwich was fitted into the box, the divider placed snugly against it. On the other side of the divider, a rectangular container full of peanut butter was packed against the side of the box, the space between filled with half of the celery. The bottom tier was packed with two of the pink rice balls, and four apple slices. The lids were replaced and the tiers were placed back on top of each other, fastened together by a black elastic band.

The black box was next. It was a full lunch, but broken up into small-looking chunks to make it seem like far less food, to encourage the intended diner to eat even a little bit; this was a depression spell, after all. The top part was filled with the remaining apple slices and celery, packed in on either side of a second container of peanut butter. The divider was placed between the celery and the vacant space remaining in the box, a space which was filled with two of the round cakes before the lid was fitted back on top of the box. The bottom tier was filled solely with the noodles and the various things mixed in with them, the mass prodded until it laid more flat, making it easier to replace the lid, stack the boxes, and slide the red elastic around them.

The yellow box needed mostly protein and carbohydrates, for energy during physical training. But with a hearty touch of sweetness to balance out the savory and slightly-bland, make it a welcome sight after the long morning and bring the blood sugar back up for the afternoon to come. In the top portion were placed three of the rice balls, the ones filled with beef, tucked against three of the octopus-shaped sausages and half of the carrot quarters, the divider for this box lost long ago. One of the palm-sized biscuits was fitted into the middle of the bottom tier, the slices of the orange packed around it on either side, before the lids were closed and the orange elastic fitted into place.

The brown box, his box, was filled with the crab-filled rice balls, sausages, and carrots, the gaps between the main facets of the meal filled in with grapes. A biscuit was tucked into the bottom tier of the box and packed in with more grapes, the tiers closed and stacked and secured with a yellow elastic band. It was clumsier than the others, but that was fine. He knew his own eating habits. He would pick at the grapes throughout the day, eat the carrots after his first class. Only the sausages and the chicken-filled rice balls were guaranteed to make to lunch. He didn't need his lunch to be pretty-looking, or quite as well-balanced as the others. It just needed to be packed. He cleaned up his mess, setting all four boxes neatly on the edge of the counter.

That was lunch taken care of. Now, upstairs to wake the pride, and while they were getting ready for the day, he would go back downstairs and fix breakfast. Something hearty; eggs, bread, sausages, bacon... But first, family. He padded out of the kitchen with the corgi on his heels, though the dog stopped short at the bottom of the staircase, turning around and wandering back to the kitchen when he realized he wasn't going to be picked up and carried up the stairs.

The man climbed the stairs as quietly as he could, making his way toward the children's bedroom first. He pushed open the door quietly, peering in at the sleeping children, then paused. No, let them sleep a bit longer. He closed the door over again, then made his way back down the hall, toward the bedroom he'd left hours ago. That room was still dark, the curtains drawn, and a thin figure was still curled up on its side under the blanket.

"... right where I left you." He reached over and turned on the light switch, causing the body in the bed to flinch and hide his face with the blanket. The blond man sighed a little bit, crossing the room and pulling the blanket down off of the other man's face. "Come on. Time to get up."

The dark-haired man opened his eyes slowly, and the dullness behind them spoke volumes to his blond teammate. That wasn't grogginess, or tiredness. This was something else entirely. The depression was still going strong, it seemed. And given exactly what smell he had brought with him when he'd crawled pathetically into the unoccupied side of the bed the night before... well, the blond wasn't surprised that he looked so miserable.

"... another bad day, huh?"

"... yeah."

"... do you think you'll be okay home alone?"

"... dunno."

"... okay. At least get up so you can come eat breakfast with the girls. Some breakfast will do you good. Even fix you a little hair of the dog if you get movin' fast enough."

"... okay."

"Okay?" He patted the thinner man's shoulder with a tired smile as the dark-haired one pulled himself into a sitting position. "Meet you downstairs. I'm gonna go wake up the girls."

The groggier of the men could be heard grumbling and muttering under his breath as the other left the room, heading back down the hall. This time, when he pushed open the children's bedroom door, he could already see their figures moving in the dimness of the room, used to being awakened around this time. He crossed the room to the window, pulling the shades up to let the rising sunlight into the room, but predictably, it was combated when both girls groaned and pulled their blankets over their heads. He pulled the blankets off of the teenager and her younger sister. "Rise and shine!"

Rather than the usual second groan, and whines of protest, however, he was answered by a pathetic-sounding sniffle. He reached over to place the back of his hand against the sniffler's forehead. She always ran warm, but this was warmer than normal. A quick check confirmed that the elder child was the only sick one, but at this point? He'd probably keep everyone home today.

"... come down for breakfast," he said softly, ruffling each girl's hair. "Sick day."

"... sick day?" the blonde girl croaked, opening one eye.

"Yup. Sick day. No school. But you still have to come downstairs for breakfast."

Tired noises escaped both girls, but they did both haul themselves out of bed. The blond man turned and headed back downstairs, the corgi hopping excitedly around at the appearance of his human. He reached down to pet the top of the dog's head, pulling his scroll from his pocket, leafing through his contacts until he found his boss, and hitting the "send" button.

It rang several times, before the tired voice answered, "Let me guess. Qrow won't be in."

"... good morning to you too. Sorry, neither of us will. Girls are sick, and I think Qrow has whatever they've got. It's pretty nasty, we might be out a couple days. Whoever covers for us can message me for our lesson plans for the day."

"... alright. I'll call Regalia and Ashe and let them know they're covering your classes."

"Thanks."

"Yeah yeah. You just get those kids feeling better, alright? Let me know when you'll be back."

"Will do. Thanks again." He hung up quickly, to avoid wasting any more time. Instead of making his way to the kitchen, he headed for the living room to set up the video game system and make up a nest for the sick child on the couch. After that was done, he returned to the kitchen, putting a pot over one of the burners to start heating up some milk.

While the pot was warming, hot sauce, an egg, and a half-empty bottle of whiskey were produced, set on the counter. He didn't like to keep alcohol in the house, but with that one particular family member at home, it was unavoidable. He broke the egg into a glass, poured in a generous amount of whiskey, and topped it off with a couple spoonfuls of hot sauce, before giving the whole hellish concoction a quick stir, taking care not to break the egg yolk.

After restarting the coffee pot, he poured a couple glasses' worth of whole milk into the warm pot to let it heat up while he worked on the rest of breakfast. Twelve slices of bacon fried and set aside, four tablespoons of butter melted into the skillet over the bacon grease. He cracked eight eggs into the skillet, slicing four small tomatoes before dumping them, and three cups of mushrooms in alongside the eggs. Eight slices of bread were placed into the pan along with the eggs, tomatoes and mushrooms, and he left them to fry.

By the time the milk and coffee were done, and he was dishing the breakfast mixture onto four plates, he could hear at least two sets of groggy feet on the staircase. One pair trudged to the table and sat down, the other stumbled toward the coffee pot. He didn't even have to look up from the skillet, picking up the glass containing the unholy mixture of hot sauce, egg, and whiskey, and holding it out to the coffee-seeker. "No you don't."

"... whazzat?"

"Hair of the dog. Drink it, then you can have coffee."

The dark-haired man took a sip, gagged a little, and looked over at the blond with an expression of utter betrayal. "... you're tryin' to kill me."

"Just finish it. Then coffee."

"Can I have coffee?" the other dark-haired person in the room chimed.

"No. No you may not." He set her plate down in front of her, filling her glass with cold milk. "You get milk."

"Aww..."

"Maybe when you're older."

The final member of the family appeared in the kitchen, looking groggy and tired as she sat miserably in her seat at the table. A plate of breakfast and a glass of warm milk was set down for her, and she was given a playful hair-ruffle. "Mornin', sleepy."

"Uuuuugh."

"Drink some milk and have some breakfast, I made you a nest on the couch--"

The end of his notification was drowned out by the sounds of near-projectile vomit splattering into the sink. The dark-haired man was hunched pathetically over the basin, the glass that had once contained the ungodly "hangover cure" dropped onto the counter. The little black-and-white corgi skidded over to headbutt at his ankle sympathetically, his human not bothering to follow, but instead choosing to comment as he walked back to the stove.

"Welp, looks like coffee's not a great idea for you either. Sit down, I'll get you some water."

"'S tha... that... _hrk!_ " The attempt by the slightly-smaller man to be snappish and sarcastic was rudely interrupted by another wave of vomit, his entire body trembling.

The blond man reached over and patted him on the back, turning on the sink to rinse out. "That's it, buddy, let it all out."

"I... _hngh_... I hate you..."

"Mhm, of course you do. I just do your laundry, cover for you when you can't go into work, make sure you function like an adult human, and make you breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. I'm awful." He set the final two plates down at the table. "How is it, girls?"

"Good!"

"Yum..."

"Yang, honey, you don't have to eat all of that if you're feeling too sick, but at least try to get all the bread down if you can."

"'Kay, Dad."

"Atta girl. Qrow, c'mere and eat some solids if you think you can keep them down."

"Uuuugh..." The dark-haired man shuddered, trudging over to the empty chair across from the blonde-haired girl and sitting down heavily. The smallest person at the table reached over and patted his arm, prompting a miserable-sounding "thanks, kiddo."

The standing adult set down a glass of water and a mug of coffee in front of his smaller companion, and sat down with his own mug in the unoccupied chair, picking up his fork and finally joining his family in eating breakfast. The corgi settled down, curling up beneath his human's chair and resting his head on his paws, knowing that he would undoubtedly be getting something good when the family was done eating.

Sure enough, he got about half of the blonde-haired teenager's food, and about three-quarters of the dark-haired man's, enough to keep him busy and content for quite awhile. After the sick child was set up in her sick-day nest on the couch, and the younger child was on her way back up to their bedroom, the fully-functioning adult re-entered the kitchen to find the paler man still sitting at the table.

"... 'nother cup of coffee?" he offered, to which he received only a head-shake in response. "... anything I can do?"

"... you weren't trying to make me sick in front of the kids, were you?"

"Of course not. Normally, I'd say, 'that's what happens when you try to turn your blood into alcohol,' but that drink looked vile and I'm sorry for inflicting it on you. Got it from a certain bartender friend of ours who shall remain nameless. I think she just wanted to see if I could get you to drink it, but she did use a real name for it."

"Yeah, Amber Moon."

"Oh, so it's a thing. Yeah, I'll just stick to spiking your coffee on bad mornings, that looked brutal and I'm sorry."

"... whatever."

"... I also shouldn't've been so condescending in front of the girls."

"Whatever, Tai." He pushed himself up, looking a little unsteady on his feet for a second.

"Nope. Sit down, keep me company, I'll get you some more coffee. Even spike it for you."

"... thanks, Tai."

Across the room, the carefully-packed lunches sat, forgotten, on the edge of the counter.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't ask why I was convinced that they should be using bento boxes and that whole style of lunch. I have no idea, I just thought it was adorable.


End file.
